Anyone have any natural ways to fight heart burn?

I don’t get heartburn often, but when I do, I drink a glass of milk. It coats everything and helps a lot.

This may not work for you but I generate and swallow a lot of saliva, which is alkaline.

PS Prilosec doesn’t sound like a good idea as it is not for immediate relief of heartburn symptoms

Well first of all you should not eat spicy dishes for dinner, that might be a cause. What helps me out when i get heartburn is a few drops of peppermint oil in some cold water.

I use the combination of a glass of milk and chew some peppermint chicklets. I have never had it as intensely as you describe though. How about Mylanta or something like that?

But you shouldn’t be getting such terrible heartburn so often. You might want to see a doctor. Or keep track of what you eat that triggers it. My dad had a hernia that caused it, so there could be a health problem that is the trigger.

hey @mistik04 do you drink the water or inhale?
silly question, but i didn’t think you could drink peppermint oil… as it says ‘not to be taken’ on the bottle

Easiest way to get rid of heartburn is to eat a tablespoon of mustard when you have a flare up. I did that the whole time I was pregnant, and it worked like a charm.

Take 2 house bricks and put them under the head end of the bed. It will stop acid from washing up in to your thoat. Sleeping on the left hand side has also been shown to help.

Don’t eat for at least a couple of hours before you go to bed. Stop smoking if you smoke. Avoid eating large meals. Avoid wearing very tight pants.

I’d give the omeprazole a go. It is incredibly effective.

@flutherother the ph of saliva is between 6.2 (acidic) and 7.4 (alkaline). Even if your saliva is on the alkaline side it still is too weak to make any difference to stomach acid. What that would do would stimulate peristalsis and help to move stuff back to wear it’s supposed to be.

@tan235 – I drink it. It’s rather strange that its says ’‘not to be taken’’ on the bottle, because I have a bottle which actually reccommends it for gas and bloating. Hmmm….

@mistik04 maybe mine isn’t pure.
I will buy a real oil though as i’m willing to try anything right now!

@tan235 – Ok, be sure it’s pure. I hope that helps. Dont use too much though, I use 3 or 4 drops per glass of water.

None of the above. When I switched my new doctor took me off Prevacid for GERD and I had already been taken Prilosec. She put me on digestive enzymes that came in capsules like vitamin E oil. I took them with meals and once every morning in a larger dosage. I didn’t eat spicey foods or late in the evening. I quit drinking soda. Guess what I haven’t had heartburn or signs of GERD in about 6 years now. The products I used are as follows:

Integrative Therapeutics, Inc: Tyler Similase: a comprehensive, high-potency plant enzyme that support digestion of all food groups.
and
Heartburn Free with ROH10. It is produced by Enzymatic Therapy, Inc, Green Bay, WI 54311

I have recommeded these products to other people who report similar results.

wow thank you @joybird, can i get these things from a health food shop?
Do you get or did you get heartburn quite badly where it would keep you awake?
Mine is driving me crazy…. I“m going to google all of these products right now and buy them!

Have you had a doctor check you for the H-Pylori bacteria? That gives a lot of people horrible heartburn and symptoms of ulcers.

Do you drink more than two alcoholic drinks every day? Some people’s systems are extra sensitive and the little hairs in the intestines get damaged to where they don’t digest well anymore. Stopping drinking helps the hairs regrow, something about helping the food stuffs move along in an orderly fashion.

If it is just an occasional thing, real peppermint candies will help. Candies made with artificial flavors won’t help.

You also might want to keep some kind of food journal and see if you can determine if certain foods are causing your heartburn… and then don’t eat them. :-) For some reason the fried chicken from my grocery store’s deli counter always gives me heartburn but other kinds of fried chicken don’t. It only took about three times until I figured that one out.

¼ tsp of baking soda in a small glass of water is a sure fire remedy for those late night attacks. It works.

altoids help when coffee doesn’t agree with me – more confirmation for peppermint theme. i take generic mint tums at night. wonder about ginger…

Have you been constipated? That can lead to pain all the way up the digestive track. If so, curing that might cure your heartburn. Maalox and Tums should give you some relief and are very benign. You mentioned Prilosec, which need to be taken before a meal, so unless it is chronic heartburn you might want to avoid it. Pepsid and Zantac I think are used after a meal.

For now, avoid spicy foods, and don’t lie down for at least 30 minutes after a meal, and don’t eat large meals, eat small meals more often instead. Also, see if avoiding sugary sweets helps. Maybe keep a food diary for a couple of weeks and you can narrow it down to a certain food or spice?

A little baking soda in water does wonders.

@MRSHINYSHOES No no nonononononono. It is sooooooo easy to accidentally blow up your stomach that way. Antacids have stuff in them that helps the baking soda not get carried away. But raw baking soda… Stories involving the phrase “so then my surgeon was picking the rice and beans from my burrito outta my guts!” are really only funny long after the fact…

See a doctor. Seriously. I had heartburn like that and after 3 weeks of it I was being rushed in to Emergency for surgery on a perforated stomach ulcer. I was 48 hours from death.

@papayalily Sorry I will argue your point! Baking soda…. ¼ teaspoon of it dissolved in a glass of water, is 10 times more effective than any antacid I have ever taken and done it dozens of times with nary a burp. Mind you I reach for the Tums first but they are not always there.

I thought I would mention that some people mistake heartburn for aortic aneurism symptoms from what I understand.